Wood stove voucher program can save homeowners cash, but not without red tape

Monday

Jan 28, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By Bradford L. Miner CORRESPONDENT

Since Dec. 27, residents from Barnstable to the Berkshires have gobbled up more than $1.1 million in vouchers from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the state Department of Energy Resources.

Vouchers of $2,000 for income-eligible people and $1,000 for others were an incentive to replace inefficient wood stoves with those certified by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as burning cleaner and using less wood. The agency says today’s stoves are more than 50 percent more efficient; burn less fuel; and emit 70 percent fewer harmful smoke particles.

Catherine Williams, communications and marketing director for the Clean Energy Center, said the $1.15 million available translates into 750 new wood or pellet stoves, which greatly reduce smoke and emissions while burning less wood.

Kenneth Kimmell, Massachusetts environmental protection commissioner, said replacing hundreds of older wood stoves with lower-emission units will improve air quality across the state.

The first round of vouchers was fully subscribed 12 days after the start date, and a second round, with $800,000 from the Department of Environmental Protection, and a supplemental $250,000 from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, filled the quota in a little more than a week, with a 5 p.m. Sunday deadline for online applications.

Applying for the vouchers, however, seems to have been the easy part, according to wood stove dealers in the region.

Ron Higgins, owner of Higgins Energy Alternatives, 140 Worcester Road, Barre, said he’s had several inquiries from potential customers who have applied for a voucher, but added he has yet to sell and install a stove under the requirements of the program.

“Some are under the impression that with a voucher they can come in, buy a wood stove and take it home. This is not as simple as ‘cash and carry,’ ” Mr. Higgins said.

He said those coming to the store with a voucher in hand, or the promise of one, discover quickly that a voucher does not ensure a new stove.

“The program requires that we determine that a consumer’s existing wood stove was built before 1990 and is not an EPA-certified model. The consumer then has to secure a permit for the installation; their existing stove has to be removed; their chimney has to be inspected and determined to be safe and meets current code; and their new stove has to be professionally installed,” he said.

“There are lots of hoops to jump through, as there are with any government program,” he added.

Mr. Higgins said stove prices alone, depending on features, could range from $1,500 to $3,500.

Nonetheless, he said his staff would work up estimates of complete costs for several prospects who had applied for the voucher.

At The Stove Place, 95 Hartford Turnpike, Shrewsbury, co-owner Craig Charbonneau echoed Mr. Higgins’ thoughts, and added that one potential customer didn’t realize that he’d be receiving a 1099 form from the IRS at the end of the year, reducing the cash value of the voucher by some 30 percent.

“That particular customer, who had applied for a voucher, decided to go ahead and buy a new stove anyway. With a series of zero-degree nights this past week, business has been brisk,” Mr. Charbonneau said.

While the buzz about the program has been strong, he said, some have come to him looking to trade up on stoves that aren’t eligible for the change because they already meet minimum EPA standards.

Both Mr. Higgins and Mr. Charbonneau said the new stoves offer a choice between catalytic and non-catalytic models to achieve a more complete combustion.

The difference, they said, is in the long-term cost. Catalytic converters have to be replaced periodically, based on burn time.

Bill Knight, owner of the Bay State Stove Shop, 56 Gardner Road, Hubbardston, said this is the first year his shop has taken part in the program, which previously had been sponsored by the American Lung Association.

He said he has walked several callers through the application process, answering questions, but declined to say how many stoves he has sold to customers who have used a voucher to offset the cost.